Health and safety procedures for professional organizers is so important. There are a lot of potentially harmful things inside a stranger’s home, especially if there are years of clutter. To stay in the best health conditions possible, this article covers valuable safety tips for professional organizers.
With almost two decades of professional organizing experience, I know how important it is to maintain a safe working environment.
To help ensure that all organizers are as safe as possible, I want to share a few strategies that I use regularly to stay safe and healthy while working as a Professional Organizer.
These are the things I recommend doing during normal operations of your business and are of course secondary to any mandatory restrictions in place by your local government during a health crisis.
1. Don’t go to work sick and encourage clients to cancel appointments if they are ill.
It’s so important to work when you’re healthy and to be around healthy people.
Check-in with your clients as you are commuting to their homes just to double-check that everyone in the home is feeling well and that no one has a fever. Also, I find it helpful to waive the cancellation fee if the client needs to cancel due to illness. For myself, if I feel the least bit icky, I take my temperature and inform my client that we need to reschedule. This is to ensure that they are safe and that I am not liable.
If you do not have a Client Agreement that includes a cancellation policy, check out “Essential Forms for Professional Organizers”. I’ve created printable and editable forms to help you run your organizing business effectively and professionally.
2. Wear gloves and a mask when appropriate
I always keep an N95 mask and my Atlas Gloves in my organizer’s tool bag. Find an N95 mask that is comfortable for you to wear, and get used to wearing it often. An N95 filters out 95% of particles in the air and is a lifesaver if you suffer from indoor allergies.
The gloves I wear have a flexible nitrile coating that offers some puncture resistance to keep my hands from getting cuts. These specific gloves come in a variety of sizes including small and they are machine washable.
3. Wash your hands before leaving the client’s house
For me, this is a bit of a ritual. After several hours of sorting and touching who-knows-what, I wash my hands before leaving my client’s home. This is a best practice, even if I’ve been wearing gloves for most of the day.
There are plenty of nasty things inside a home that you could potentially come in contact with such as dust, mold, mildew, asbestos, rotting food, live animals, and much more. To make sure that you are safe, be sure to wash your hands before you even get into your car to leave. I also keep hand sanitizer in my car and inside my professional organizer’s toolbag.
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4. Control your allergies
I know it is not the same as being sick or contagious, but I hate to have a sneezing fit, runny eyes, and nose congestion during a session with my clients. I suffer from allergies so this is something I need to be mindful of when going to a client’s home.
In addition to wearing a mask and gloves, if I think I’ll have an allergy attack (typically from dust) I take an over-the-counter allergy pill daily. I also carry extra medication in my toolbag in case I forget to take one before leaving the house.
Additionally, it helps to have some tissues on hand just in case you do sneeze here and there due to all the dust. However, if you do suffer from allergies, it is best to take medication and keep a mask on at all times. This protects you and your client.
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5. Bring your food and drink
Many years ago when I was just starting out, I read somewhere that you should never accept food or drink at a client’s home. Now, for the record, I have certainly had a few cookies and cups of tea with my clients over the years. But as a rule, I always carry water, a protein drink, snacks, and hot tea (in winter) to my organizing jobs. I like to keep these items inside my organizer’s toolbox so that I can grab them easily throughout the day. When I have a snack, it’s a quick break, and then right back to work.
Being prepared means never being caught off guard or accepting food and drink if you feel that the environment makes you uncomfortable. It also provides a barrier between you and your client so that the professionalism of your relationship is maintained.
They might think nothing of inviting you to stay for dinner, but remember, you are hired to perform a duty, you are not necessarily their friend. Keep things as professional as possible by bringing your own snacks and water.
I hope that these safety tips for professional organizers give you all a basis for creating your own health and safety policies for your business. If you are just getting started setting up your business and want templates and samples of all the forms I use to run my Professional Organizing business, get your copy of the Essential Forms for Professional Organizers HERE.
For even more help, check out my YouTube Channel for videos on downsizing, decluttering, and the business of professional organizing!
Stay safe and healthy!
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZER?
If you’re someone who LOVES organizing, consider starting your own organizing business.
Get a copy of my free guide “Professional Organizer’s Launch Guide” HERE.
There are many things to consider when starting an organizing business including:
- When will I name my business?
- Where will I find clients?
- How do I become an organizer?
- Do I need to be certified to get started?
- How will I structure my business?
You have come to the right place!
When you are ready to start your own professional organizing business, check out all my courses on working as a home organizer. My course bundle has the best prices on courses so that you can create and market your organizing business and design a system of organization that will work with all your clients no matter how small or large their volume of clutter is! Check out the course bundle here: Online Boot Camp for Organizing Bosses
You can also check out my other blogs on how to start a home-organizing business:
Happy Organizing!
